The Senate moved ahead with executive branch nominations, with a number of committees meeting without their Democratic members who were protesting. Sworn in were Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and cloture was invoked for the nominees to lead Treasury and Education, which will be more closely watched than others. The Senate also passed legislation to cancel the stream buffer rule, sending it to the President for signature. The House continued its work to undue a number of regulations approved by the Obama administration. Sec. 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act directed the SEC to require public companies involved in the exploration, extraction, processing, and exportation of oil, natural gas, or minerals, to disclose certain payments made to foreign governments or the federal government. Another passed late in the previous term is the controversial "blacklisting rule". The blacklisting rule requires businesses to report violations or alleged violations of labor laws when it bids on a federal contract. more